Various Skys

Taken out of the car window a few weeks ago on our way back from Wales 

Taken along the A481  near Forest Inn The hill you see is called The Van

 Taken along the A40 on the way to Witney the area here is part of the Windrush Valley

 Looking back the opposite way and towards Burford

M&S Coffee

The Drone

A few weeks ago I was down at Fforest Fields Campsite and as it was a nice sunny day I thought a few photos would be in order from around the lake. While watching the swans I heard a noise, realising it was something flying I looked up to see if it was visible. After a few moments I spotted a drone and nearby the owner flying it. 

As you can see a nice day

Looking for the drone and spotted the owner

 The drone coming into land. I had a chat with him about flying it and he had been doing some views of the campsite. I left him and wandered off round the lake

Past one of the swans

and a couple of Canada Geese

 The swan looking majestic as only swans can

 The geese looking at me cautiously. I decided to leave them to swim around with out me bothering them and went off for a cup of tea

Taking part in Our World Tuesday

East Ilsley Mural

The next panel depicts the village of East Ilsley and shows the sheep for which the village was famous for. The Ridgeway for centuries was used as road and sheep were herded along it to the various markets in villages & towns, this was happening right up to the twentieth century. The mural itself has suffered not only from age but also some moron tagged it.

 Taking Part in Monday Mural

Castle Bank

Taken down in Wales a few weeks ago

Flags

Before The Clock House

Before the Clock House in Newbury stood a different feature. A building thought to be a wayside chapel. In 1828 the area was famous for coaching and the chairman of the Kennet & Avon canal donated an obelisk to which a lamp that was bought by public subscription was attached. Originally it was enclosed by an iron fence and had a water pump attached feeding out the south side. By 1888 the fence was gone and the pump stopped working and the obelisk moved to the corner of Speen Lane
where it still stands

It was left neglected till the residents of Speen restored it as a millennium project to how you see it now.

 I think it still looks as impressive now, a shame few people see it or take notice of it.

Taking part in Our World Tuesday

The Compton Hundred

The next panel on the mural comprises of three sections depicting the local churches  in the area

 They are pictured within a tracery that have tomb effigies at the base. These exist in one of the churches in the last panel. The Compton Hundred may have been an old Saxon Name for the Village

 The first three churches are Farnborough, Catmore and West Ilsley I have only visited one of these for the Church Explorer which is Catmore the other two are on my list to visit. 

 The next two are East Ilsley and Compton, again I have only visted one Compton 

The last two are Chilton and Aldworth both of which I have visted.  If you click on the links you can see what the churches look like.

Taking Part in Monday Mural

Interchange Skys

Taken back in March on one of my weekly walks covering the work here in the Interchange being built showing the cloudy blue sky

The A34 looking towards Didcot

View this time towards the A34 over the construction site

Last view over the fields towards the Interchange

Heron in the Garden

The Epynt Ranges

Over last weekend my wife & I were down in Wales at our caravan, it was being serviced so we went off for a few hours and ended up on the Epynt ranges I only realised after my wife said we had not driven along the road before, then I noticed the fence with waning signs on. We took a road that then went through the range and stopped off at one of the viewing points .

The entrance to the Epynt ranges, the small hut you see would have been a guard house back in 1939 when the army took it over

The hills look so peaceful 

but the red flag tells a different story. The ranges are used for practise firing of artillery and small arms

which does not stop the sheep grazing. Warnings about for you to stick to the footpaths and not pick any objects up

The road leading through the range to Garth

looking across he range

you get  a wonderful view down to the valleys

and across the hills the way we had come. The roads here are used in Motor sport and is a favourite for Rallying on the closed roads

I heard firing going on in the distance and my wife said she saw people moving around on the moors. We left to go back to the campsite and will return with a picnic to take on one of the picnic areas

 

I'll leave you with this panoramic view of the Eypnt Ranges

The Battle of Ashdown

Last week I showed the mural on the ridgeway under the A34 this week I will show the first of the pannels and explain the story behind it. This panel is on the East Ilsly side of the tunnel and dipicts the Battle of Ashdown where the Saxons lead by Alfred the Great who was only a prince then 21 years old beat the Danes. The Battle is though to have taken place near Thorn Hill by Compton a few miles away from where the Mural is. You can see the Thorn tree to the left of the uprased sword.

 The Mural has been here a number of years  and now suffering deteriation from the dampnot to  mention the idiot who decided to Tag it. After reading about the battle & knowing the places mention in it I will try and write a longer blog showing where all the places in the story took place. 

Taking part in Monday Mural
 

Blue Sky Over Oxfordshire

From my walk along the Ridgeway the other weekend a view I saw looking over the Oxfordshire Countryside from the Berkshire Downs